Lets talk Alcohol & Weight Gain.

Al-ka-ma-hole. A delightful liquid that can give you the confidence of Kanye West and make you shait your pants in public.

We all know alcohol is bad for you mmmkay, so im not going to go into the health concerns regarding alcohol in this post, this blog will only talk about weight gain in relation to alcohol.

Alrighty pass me the beer bong.. lets chug this topic fast.


Believe it or not, you can’t blame alcohol for weight gain. You cant even directly blame sugar, wheat, dairy, soy, fats, carbs, McDonalds or Magnum Egos for weight gain either.

In terms of weight gain, energy balance will always be numero uno. If you consume more calories than you expend you will gain weight.  Regardless of if those calories come from alcohol, Magnum Egos or carrot sticks.

The reason you might avoid some of the items listed above (Alcohol, McDonalds, Dairy, Wheat, Sugar etc) will be for the potential negative health side effects they cause you. But speaking in strictly weight loss point of view, it really is an energy balance equation.

I like dot points, so here are some reasons why alcohol may make you blow out your calorie intake for the day..

• Alcohol is delicious; therefore it is easy to consume a large amount in one go. 
• Alcohol also increases appetite, so the temptation to slam down a quarter pounder and a bag of Doritos may be greater after consuming some cold ones.
• Alcohol decreases self control… “What new years resolution? who dares me to eat 80 McNuggets?!”
• Hangovers make you feel like butt crack, thus you will eat whatever you can stomach (usually deep fried or covered in chocolate) and probably wont exercise the next day.
• In addition to the overconsumption of calories issue, drinking large amounts of alcohol can inhibit protein synthesis; so all that heavy lifting you’ve been doing may go to waste.

But Mellllllll... how am i supposed to have a social life without alcohol? Well, if you simply cant give up uncle Alkyhole ill give you my advice.

Be smart about your food intake the day you will be consuming alcohol. Be aware that alcohol contains a high amount of calories and be sure to account for this in your intake of food for that day. For example: If I know that I will be going out for drinks with friends on a Friday night, I will factor this in by eating smaller portions of food that day, I will also choose protein rich foods, so that I can consume most of my carbohydrates (alcohol isn’t a carbohydrate, but I count it as one) that night when I consume alcohol.. and to factor in the inevitable stop at the Pie Face on the way home.

If you want to know the numbers/science behind alcohol & calories then read below, if you just want to know the rough amount of carbohydrates in each drink then ride the graph train below.

GRAPH TIME! (errryones favourite time)

Beverage	Amount	Amount of Calories	Carbohydrate equivalent
Beer (Corona)	1  Stubbie (355ml)	149	37g
Cascade (premium light)	1 Stubbie (375 ml)	101	25g
Crown Lager	1 Bottle (300 ml)	120	30g
Dry White Wine	1  Standard Glass (120ml)	82	20.5g
Red Wine	1  Standard Glass (120ml)	82	20.5g
Champagne	1  Standard Glass (120ml)	91	22g
Vodka Shot 40%	1 shot glass	55	13g
Margarita Cocktail	1  Standard Glass	153	38g

  

   **Calorie figures are from a cheeky google search, so may not be 100% accurate.

As you can see, that six pack of beer you consumed (equivalent to 222g of carbohydrates) is probably the reason you cant see the potential six pack on your stomach.

If you haven’t fallen asleep yet, here’s ze science:

The numbers:

In terms of energy each macronutrient has the following:

Carbohydrates x 4 calories per gram

Proteins x 4 calories per gram

Fats x 9 calories per gram

Alcohol x7 calories per gram

In terms of energy use, the body uses carbohydrates first, then fats and then proteins for energy. However alcohol takes priority over all three. So if you drink alcohol, it will be prioritized for energy, therefore putting a halt on carbs, fat and protein utilization. 

When counting macros or using IIFYM you will track your intake using a program such as MyFitnessPal. On these programs, you only track carbs, fat and protein (and these make up a calorie total). You do not have alcohol macros, so it has to fit into one of the other three.

If you track calories or count macros (like my clients do), I recommend they count alcohol as a carbohydrate in their intake for the day. (If you would like more information on counting macros, check out my ebook or purchase a personal plan) So you can use this helpful and super trendy graph to get a rough estimate of how to track your alcohol (this graph is from my ebook)

If you are using myfitnesspal an easy way to track alcohol is by creating a 'My Food', where you can simply add in custom calories and macros for your drink of choice. That way it will be saved and easy to find whenever you need to add it in.

I hope this has been helpful, now go forth and feb fast & have a booze free month, I dare you too!

Mel x